Working with a Club Foot

Transcription

1 January/February 1996 The Natural Angle January/February 1996 A PUBLICATION OF PRACTICAL IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS FOR FARRIERS Volume 8: Issue 3 Working with a Club Foot By Dave Farley When asked to work on a horse with a club foot, take extra time to evaluate the whole horse. Look at the horse from all angles. Watch the horse as it takes a couple of steps; this can help you see where the foot cannot take stress. A horse will protect himself just as you do when hurting. Learning this and understanding the lame horse is mandatory for a farrier to have a successful, positive shoeing experience. Doing anything less is simply application, not correction. The condition of the foot, the way the horse stands and your shoe modification ability will help determine the end result. With all this in mind we worked on a club foot case recently. This particular horse, a six year old gelding, has what I feel is a grade three club foot (on a 1-5 scale). Apparently the club foot condition has been with this horse since it was a foal. This horse found it difficult to stand square or under himself before shoeing. Above: Right Front Foot Continued on Page 2 Above: Left Front Foot 1

2 Continued from Page 1 In photo 1 you can see the dish in the hoof wall is at or just below the coronary, a grade 3, whereas a dish at or just above the end of the toe would likely be considered grade 1 or 2. This club foot, as seen in photo 2, has very straight medial and lateral walls, versus only medial or lateral. Look closely at photo 3 and you can see hoof growth at the heel is approximately twice as much as the toe growth. There is separation of the wall from widest area medial to widest area lateral shown in photo 4. The bars are starting to close in or point towards the frog as you can see in photo 5. If the end of the bars are not opened as I did on the right (I simply use a rasp and knife) they will start to pinch and narrow the frog. 1 2 There are several other factors that contribute to this horse's lameness. Look at photos 6 and 7. Notice the pronounced side bone. Photo 8 shows a prolapsed sole that is painful, making it impossible to have a normal stride. Also notice the degenerative sole growth just in front of the frog. This is from osteomyelitis or infectious bone. Photo 9 is the lateral x-ray showing the remodeled bone and poor quality of the bone. The toe crack in photo 10 has also been the site of drainage from abscesses due to micro fractures from the distal end of the coffin bone. 3 4 Continued on Page 3 Kerkchaert Shoes - always a Degree above the competition 5 Triumph 4x0 and Triumph Degree now available

3 Continued from Page 2 With all this in mind I decided to modify a shoe to do several things. Rocker the shoe both toe and heel to allow for ease of break over and landing, add a leather rim pad to raise the prolapsed and painful sole off the ground and fit the shoe more medial to center the frog while putting the hoof support closer to the center of the leg (photos 11 & 12). Before applying this shoe it was almost impossible to pick up the left front. After application of the modified shoe to the right I was then able to shoe the left. I also applied a thicker rim pad to the left front to raise that side allowing the right foot and leg to be more square and weight bearing. You can see in photo 13 that the left front is much wider than the right, a result of bearing more than its share of weight over the years. 8 Our thanks to Dr. Bruce Lyle for providing radiographs on this horse and to the owners - Chad & Cathy Pippen for allowing us to work on their horse in a recent clinic. All reside in Aubrey, Texas

4 T H E T O O L C O R N E R Shoe Modification - The Trailer This is one version of a trailer used to provide lateral support on the hind foot. The first step is to provide some additional length on the outside branch by offsetting the shoe in the toe (photo 1). You can then forge the trailer (photo 2). Check your fit before making the final finish on the belt sander (photos 3,4). The view from behind and the lateral view give you a good look at the support that is provided with this modification (photos 5,6) Adhere designed to glue on steel, aluminum, and most plastic shoes as well as complete any hoof repair project. With an initial set time of one minute and a final cure of six minutes, Adhere is perfect for most every application. Adhere sets hard with a superior bond, but maintains the flexibility necessary at the quarters and heels to allow the natural movement of the hoof. 6 Vettec, Hoof Care Products 600 East Hueneme Road, Oxnard, CA USA 800/ Zonnebaan 14, NL-3542 EC Utrecht, The Netherlands (31)

5 N E W P R O D U C T Triumph Egg Bar Kerckhaert has completed production of the first three sizes of the Triumph Aluminum Egg Bar shoes. They are now being shipped to your farrierproducts dealers. These clipped shoes have the same great features of the Triumph flat and degree shoes. The bold toe saves a lot of shaping work and the punching allows you plenty of good options. There is also a good sole relief and bevel already built into the shoes. HOT IRON PRODUCTIONS FORGING TAPES Contact your farrierproducts dealer or call for the name of a dealer near you. Volume 1: The Anvil, Hammer and Tongs Volume 2: Basic Shoe Making Volume 3: Forge Welding Steel and Aluminum Volume 4: Cowpies and Clips Basic Shoe Modifications All available in PAL format Value or Quality? With Bellota You get Both. The Egg Bars are packed in 10 pair boxes and are now available in sizes 000, 00 and 0, clipped only. Sizes 1, 2 and 3 will be available in Classic Top Sharp Top Finish Tools Handles